Thursday, December 25, 2014

Hi all! We sent out our Christmas cards and put our blog address on the front! I was hoping that would encourage me to catch up on my blog!

I thought I would start with Christmas as of right now and then add in a top 10 from the year. Some of the events will already have posts and some will need to be updated!

I went to California with Caden a few days before my kids, so we had a pretend Christmas before I left.

When we met up with Jeff 5 days later, Caden was obsessed with Jeff's glasses, almost as if he didn't recognize him.

We went to see Christmas lights as a family and met up with Crystal and Tony and their girls and Grandma Denise and Grandpa Harold.

Emily and Tina had fun together. It was crazy busy, and we all kind of split up.

We all went to Knott's Berry Farm together on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful weather and we were all excited to wear short sleeves! Caden loved this little train ride and Bryce kept him happy.

Here is our group (minus Jeff taking the picture! It was a great day. Bryce was barely 48inches, the minimum height for roller coasters and upside down rides. He was very happy.

We were so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa with us! They took all the kids at different times on rides so that Jeff and I could go on some of the bigger rides with the older kids!

It was a fun day! Now we are up the mountains and enjoying time as a family. There are always ups and downs with this many people in one place, but it has been so nice to be together. We just had a yummy Christmas Dinner.

Here are the top 10 highlights of the year:

1. Trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon for Spring Break
2. Trip to Brazil for the World Cup for Jeff and Kelly! (Trip of a lifetime!) Grandma Denise comes to stay with the kids for 2 weeks.
3. All 3 kids playing spring sports- baseball and softball, fun to go to all of their games.
4. Lots of time on the boat. This doesn't always happen.
5. Caden turns 1 and is lots of fun for the kids to play with. They love teaching him new things. He is like their toy. They still fight over him, except when he is too busy.
6. The kids all enjoy school at the charter school. Bryce finishes his first year of all day school (first grade), Emily finishes 3rd grade and Dallin finishes his first year of middle school. I am impressed with their study skills and their desire to do well.
7. Jeff has been at the same job for 10 years now. That is a huge "grown up" accomplishment.
8. Kelly doesn't have a W2 for the first time. :-) She is grateful for the time she has with Caden and enjoys watching him observe the world around him.
9. All 3 kids are playing basketball and Jeff is coaching Emily for the first time. He has never coached girls before and was a little nervous, but he is doing very well!
10. Lots of fun with friends and family this year making memories! Some of our favorite traditions are Easter with friends and our annual beach trip. We had Thanksgiving with the Giles and an eventful Christmas Tree Farm outing that needs its own post! Jeff and I continue to run with our awesome Ambush running group and those are some of my greatest friendships! We feel very blessed!

Sunday, November 02, 2014

I did not realize how much of summer I missed! These are only the pics on my phone. I will have to write more later. I am trying to finish updating so I can print it. I will add explanations later. Enjoy!